Explaining Car Bomb VBIEDs: Terrorists' New Tactic, Delhi's New Nightmare

The November 10 attack at Delhi's Red Fort - ammonium nitrate fuel oil stuffed into the back of a Hyundai i20 detonated, killing 13 people - introduced the national capital to a new terrorist weapon - Vehicular-Borne Improvised Explosive Device or, to put it simpler, car bombs.

VBIEDs are among the most dangerous mass-casualty attacks in a terrorist's arsenal.

They are among the easiest to prep, requiring a relatively lower volume of explosives to ensure a great deal of destruction because the vehicle itself is the bomb; shattered metal fragments explode around the blast site, becoming lethal, bullet-like projectiles that kill, injure, or maim.

They are also among the most difficult to stop, particularly in urban areas with high traffic.

And because vehicles are chosen to be as inconspicuous as possible - the terrorist's i20, for example, was undistinguishable from the lakhs of other private vehicles - it is almost impossible to stop an attack.

The i20 in the Delhi Red Fort blast was seen driving around the city.

Other cars that have since been linked to the terrorists - the red Ford EcoSport and the Maruti Swift Dzire, for example - are all similarly commonplace. The frequent sale and re-sale of these vehicles, to create a paper trail to throw off potential investigations, also present a problem.

READ | 32 Cars In Red Fort Terrorists' Chilling Plot For Babri Revenge: Sources

A 2018 United States counterterrorism report called VBIEDs "effective weapons because of the amount of explosives employed, relative ease of placing the device close to the target without arousing suspicion, and potential to inflict mass casualties and significant structural damage".

India not a stranger to VBIEDs

In 2019 attack a van-borne bomb rammed a military convoy in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama and killed 40 soldiers. Three years later, a car filled with potassium nitrate, other chemicals, and two cooking gas cylinders, exploded in Tamil Nadu's Coimbatore, killing only the driver.

The aftermath of the 2019 Pulwama terror attack.

So, no. Indian law enforcement agencies are familiar with VBIEDs.

But, again, identifying and stopping one is difficult, particularly the suicide-bomber versions - like the i20 and Pulwama blasts - that make deterrence or negotiation almost impossible.

In the Red Fort blast case, the police were aware of a possible terrorist conspiracy.

Teams from J&K Police had already arrested three members of the Jaish-e-Mohammed cell - Dr Adil Rather and Dr Shahina Saeed from Saharanpur and Kannauj in Uttar Pradesh, and Dr Mujammil Shakeel from Haryana's Faridabad, and recovered nearly 3,000 kg of explosive materials.

But they did not yet know of a fifth terrorist - Dr Umar Mohammad - and the car bomb.

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Had they known, and known the car's make, model, and registration, CCTV cameras around the city might have picked it up earlier in the day.

Even then, though, it is usually the terrorist in control, particularly in a suicide-bomber scenario.

The police can evacuate people from blast zones to deny the terrorist their goal - of inflicting mass deaths - but they still have the bomb.

Delhi's first VBIED

This is, however, Delhi's first experience with a car bomb.

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And this first brush with VBIEDs has raised multiple questions, including how the vehicle managed to bypass security checks and drive to within a few hundred metres of the Red Fort.

In the hours after the blast, NDTV mapped the route taken by Umar and the i20, right from it crossing over from Faridabad into the national capital via the Badarpur border point. That was at 8.13 am.

Police sources said CCTV footage showed the car driving to a petrol station in Delhi's Okhla area - a deliberate move by the terrorist as more fuel = a bigger explosion - and then drove around till 3.19 pm.

A 3.28 it entered the Red Fort parking lot, where it stayed for three hours.

Tracing the car's route through Delhi on that day underlined another challenge - identifying and detaining the vehicle in real-time, particularly in high-traffic areas like in most parts of the city.

READ | Faridabad, Badarpur, Red Fort: NDTV Maps Route Of Car In Delhi Blast

The JCAT report highlighted this point, noting "... this underscores the importance of screening all vehicles at checkpoints, limiting vehicle access to create natural standoff distances; and scrutinising parking areas, drop-off/pick-up areas, and areas outside security barriers".

Most parts of Delhi, and certainly the Red Fort area, is a high-security zone. There are multiple layers of these - from CCTV cameras to physical checkpoints, and from barricades to scanners.

So how did the i20 pass through these undetected? That question needs an immediate answer.

The JCAT report might have an answer - the bomb might have been hidden with hollowed-out parts of the car, which could make its detection difficult even in case of physical checks.

Can VBIEDs be stopped?

Yes. But the odds are usually against law enforcement, though alert bystanders and prompt first responders are an effective mitigation strategy and certain red flags can be identified.

The first of these is the car itself.

Police and intelligence agencies can be on the lookout for illegally parked vehicles or those that have been parked for suspiciously long periods, particularly in high-turnover sites like tourist attractions.

 Credit: US Joint Counterterrorism Assessment Team. For full image, click here 

Missing or mis-matched number plates, particularly those already in the criminal system, is another red flag, as are heavily-laden vehicles with no obvious source of that weight and others with tinted windows.

Visual inspection of parked cars can also often provide authorities with actionable intel, particularly if those inspections reveal strange smells or show wires or other electronic devices in the vehicle.

And if the driver is in the vehicle, any sign of nervousness or anxiety could also alert the cops.

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